Critical Wisdom

Learn more about the subjects that affect the communities you care about

Ben and Christine’s Amazing Story of Teaching Refugees in Kakuma

Although Syrian refugees are a continued and important topic of conversation, their tragedy is not the only refugee crisis that the world is facing. Some of our Kinship founders live in places that have been home to displaced people for years.Have you ever wondered what our founders did before … READ MORE

Cambodia Has an Orphan Problem, but It Isn’t What You’re Thinking

Published December 2, 2016We want to believe that all orphan care is run by those who have children’s best interests in mind.But tragically, that's not always the case.For example, perhaps you've heard of "orphanage tourism." There are numerous systems just like it in place all around the world … READ MORE

Education for Girls: One Way You Can Change the World

Published September 27, 201616 year old Nazziwa has loved education her whole life. It’s always been her dream to study to become a nurse. But tragically, the many hardships in Nazziwa’s life have stood in the way of her completing her dream.How so?Nazziwa was raised by her father and her … READ MORE

How is Marriage Ruining Young Girls’ Lives?

Published October 31, 2016When Nalongo was only 16 years old, she was forced to marry a man over twice her age. He treated her horribly, more like she was an object than she was a person. And five years later, she fled his home, taking her child with her. Now Nalongo is a caregiver in the Buwanda … READ MORE

Keep a Girl in School By…Buying Her Pads?

Published September 7, 2016Emily almost had to drop out of school.This young Kenyan woman was both a widow and a mother. It would be easy to imagine that one of these things caused her to drop out. And yet, neither of them were the reason. The reason that she came so close to never finishing her … READ MORE

Shekinah Mission Community Clinic: A Blessing to the Rift Valley Community

Imagine living in a village of 6,000 people with no access to medical help. The smallest infection or injury would require you to walk 20 miles to the closest hospital.If you could make it there.In a situation like this a small, local clinic stocked with medicine and supplies can mean the … READ MORE

TED Talk featuring Bill and Melinda Gates

Our staff here at Kinship United had the incredible opportunity to hear Melinda Gates speak at the 2016 Global Leadership Summit hosted at Willow Creek. We were inspired by her talk and the impact that she and Bill have been able to make over the years through their foundation. Here is an interview … READ MORE

TED Talk featuring Kakenya Ntaiya

Kakenya Ntaiya was told that women were only born to be wives and mothers. Typically, girls in Kenya don’t get to go to school after 8th grade and get married shortly after. Even if she didn’t know it yet, Kakenya will be an inspiration for young girls for years to come. It started with a terrible … READ MORE

TED Talk featuring Mia Birdsong

Video Discussion Questions:1. What stories do you feel we tell about poverty in America?2. Do we tell different stories about poverty in America than we do poverty in developing nations?3. If so, why do you think that is?4. What stories exist about poor people that keep us from seeing them as they … READ MORE

TED Talk featuring Michael Kimmel

In this talk, Michael Kimmel invites men into the fight for gender equality. At Kinship United, we face this issue head on by protecting girls from female genital mutilation, making sure they have the same educational opportunities as their male counterparts, and raising a generation of young men to … READ MORE

The Hole in Our Gospel: Book Review

The Hole in our Gospel is a compelling book that tells the story of how Richard Stearns had his entire life transformed by the gospel, and the ways that the transformational power of the gospel in his life has gone on to change the lives of so many other people.At the very beginning, Richard … READ MORE

The Devastating Effects of Trauma on Orphans

Published August 26, 2016Kinship Projects are full of stories of children who are haunted by their past. When these kids enter their new Kinship Homes, many of them are shy and scared to the point of being unresponsive. They can’t comprehend that they’ve entered a safe place, because it’s been so … READ MORE

Want Another Way to Rescue Orphans? Buy Fair Trade!

Published October 19, 2016Clothing prices in the States are undeniably cheap. Walk into a Target or a Walmart, and you can walk out with a shirt for only $5. And sure, that’s pretty convenient. Until you ask the question, how is this clothing sold for so little?And the problem is, we all sort of … READ MORE

What’s Happening with Water in Africa?

Published June 22, 2018It’s morning in Kenya, Africa. Wandering sleepily, 12-year-old Kamali contemplates the long trek to collect the day’s water supply for her small village. As with most children of tragedy, Kamali has been tossed into the chaos of survival.Instead of carting school books to … READ MORE

What’s It Like to Be an African Refugee?

Published October 19, 2016Kakuma. A hot, harsh, dry place. Prone to sandstorms and droughts. Thorny bushes and flat topped trees are the only vegetation.And it's also home to 185,000 people in Kenya’s second biggest refugee camp.The Kakuma Refugee Camp has existed for 26 years, and during that … READ MORE

Where Words Fail, Music Speaks

Published August 25, 2016Seven-year-old Samuel was once a Ugandan refugee. Now, he’s found his way into a Kinship home, under the loving care and protection of the home parents. But the trauma that Samuel suffered before he came to the kinship still haunts him. After his arrival at the home, Samuel … READ MORE

Why is Human Trafficking So Difficult to Stop?

Published August 25, 2016It seems like there have never been so many ways to stop human trafficking. Awareness of human trafficking is at its all time high. Legislation and protocol against it have also increased. And yet, in the last United Nations report on human trafficking, the number of people … READ MORE

Why What You’re Doing Really Does Matter

Published October 24, 2016The world is a hyper-overwhelming place. Every day, on our news sites, on television, on our social media, we are bombarded with bad news. Our attention is constantly being drawn to something terrible happening. Every charity in the world (us included) seems to be emailing … READ MORE